Pioneer Theatre Company’s production of Mary Stuart shows both the satisfactions and the limitations of the royal historical drama. On the one hand, there are some obvious pleasures — sweeping themes, dramatic stakes and lush wardrobes (Brenda Van Der Wiel designed the costumes). There will seemingly always be an appetite for royal gossip — just look at the backlash (and the backlash to the backlash) when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down from the royal family.

What: Mary Stuart

When: Through Jan. 25

Where: Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre

How: Tickets are available on their website.

See more of our theater coverage here.

Still, after centuries of watching bickering kings and queens, it’s a challenge for actors and directors to find fresh angles to the same material. Pioneer Theatre’s production suffers from this exact problem — it is competently performed, but while translating a 200-year-old play about a 450-year-old story, the potency is lost.

The play opens with Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (Erika La Vonn) imprisoned in England. Her cousin and rival, Elizabeth I (Anne Bates), is threatened by Mary’s possible claim to the throne and opposed to Mary’s staunch Catholicism. Mary knows her life is in danger, and knows that changing Elizabeth’s mind is her best chance at survival. Elizabeth, meanwhile, is conflicted on her next step forward. Both women must navigate a complex tangle of alliances and possible betrayals while maintaining their unstable positions of power.

The cast of “Mary Stuart” (Courtesy Pioneer Theatre Company)

La Vonn works hard, but Mary, despite being the titular role, is not a particularly juicy part — she is saintly, but not always interesting. The play’s structure doesn’t always serve the character well. Because audiences only see Mary as a prisoner, they get little sense of her power and supposed magnetism. When Mary gets to be more than just a martyr, the play comes alive. In the opening scene of act two, Mary and Elizabeth meet in person, and Mary is finally able to unleash some regal righteous anger. La Vonn seems to relish the opportunity.

Bates, meanwhile, has more compelling dimensions to explore. Her Elizabeth is insecure and inconsistent, struggling against the impossible demands of monarchy and facing sexist standards that even women of extraordinary power couldn’t escape. Though the play’s characters tend to side with Mary, (characters often say, directly and indirectly, that Mary is the “pretty one”) Elizabeth is often most sympathetic to modern audiences.

Pioneer Theatre’s production is traditionally staged and designed, and the results are sometimes stuffy. The sets, designed by Sara Ryung Clement, are appropriately cold and imposing, but the actors sometimes look lost in the enormous space. John Ballinger’s music may be the most audacious part of the production — it comes in loud, unexpected bursts of dread — but the results are sometimes jarring additions to long scenes.

Still, whether it’s the 16^th, 19^th or 21^st century, it is still refreshing to watch two women work in unquestioned positions of power. The men in this story are constantly scheming for influence, but there is no question about who’s really in charge. This play argues that these queen’s reigns are just as dramatic, imperfect and bloody as their male counterparts. It’s a twisted kind of progress.

Sundance 2020 is almost here, and we wanted to introduce you to the team that will be bringing you all the best Sundance coverage! Be sure to stay tuned for the latest reviews, celebrity selfies, photos, interviews and so much more!

Jaime Winston — A former Salt Lake magazine intern, web editor, family blogger and weird guy in the office, Jaime now writes for us on a freelance basis. At this year’s Sundance Film Fest, he hopes to be terrified while reviewing films in the Midnight section, but he’s pretty sure that will really happen while watching a few documentaries bring horrible truths to light. If he’s not waitlisting at the Rose Wagner theater, you may find him ogling baked goods at The Rose Establishment.

David Shuff — David spent years running around the world, most specifically Japan, Utah and the L.A. film industry before finally settling down in his almost-native Florida, with occasional stints back in Utah as needed, like for Sundance. Watch this space for his videos of the action. “I love feeling the energy of Main Street during the festival. For a short time, Park City becomes the center of the film industry’s universe.”

Natalie Simpson — SLC photographer Natalie Simpson will be braving the cold in Park City for several red carpet premieres at Sundance this year. This will be her 7th consecutive year shooting the film festival for Salt Lake Magazine. Natalie is most looking forward to being in one of George Pimentel’s famous group shots, where he convinces an actor to pose with the paparazzi (some favorites from Sundance’s past are James Franco, Jon Hamm and Jack Black). She is not looking forward to most likely being the shortest photographer on the red carpet.

Stuart Graves “celebrity searcher” — It’s a great, eclectic mix of folks at Sundance. More so this year than ever. Scheduled to participate in Sundance 2020 is everyone from Hillary Clinton, to Taylor Swift, to Anthony Hopkins. Stuarts number one celeb selfie hope? Bette Midler! She is an icon! He’d love to meet her and get a photo. That’s what Stuart is looking forward to the most.

Michael Mejia — Many of Michael’s most anticipated films of this festival come from the World Cinema categories, tales of immigration and justice from Mexico and Guatemala, Ai Wei Wei’s documentary on the 43 disappeared students of Ayotzinapa, rural disintegration in Venezuela. Massoud Bakhshi’s Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness, may be at the top of his list. It’s a fiction film, based on real events, about a young Iranian woman seeking forgiveness for murdering her husband via a live, reality television program. The director is skipping Sundance in protest of our current administration’s war spasm, but we’re fortunate to still have this opportunity to get a glimpse of contemporary life in Tehran. And just so Michael’s slate’s not (quite) all darkness, he’s looking forward to the return of the Ross brothers (whose Western he loved in 2015), documenting the last night of a Vegas dive bar, and Jumbo, a film from France about a woman whose romantic interest is a Tilt-a-Whirl. Bien sûr. Oh, and Isabella Rossellini, one of this year’s jurors!

Kaitlyn Christy — Kaitlyn is the Web Editor for Salt Lake Magazine. This will be Kaitlyn’s first Sundance. She is thrilled to be apart of such an incredible team. She will be covering films and fashion at Sundance. Kaitlyn is looking forward to (hopefully) getting to meet Hillary Clinton and experiencing the alluring energy of Sundance.

Bright red banners are going up all over Park City demarcating temporary Sundance Film Festival theaters from the libraries, temples, health clubs and other assorted businesses that typically fill spaces in town. Buzz surrounding highly anticipated film premieres and breakout movie stars is permeating the streets. Airbnb prices are reaching astronomical heights. Sundance 2020—which kicks off next week on January 23—is fast approaching, and the Park City community is bracing for its impact, which includes the always maddening Sundance traffic.

The annual transformation of Park City from quaint mountain town to Hollywood in the Hills brings a vital surge in national interest, visitors and revenue, but is also accompanied by headaches for residents, employees and visitors as they try to go about their day to day business. In preparation for the event, City Hall has released its Rules of the Road for permitting processes surrounding the festival as well as its Community Guide to help locals and tourists navigate town with traffic, transportation, parking and rideshare information.

Gridlock envelops Park City like clockwork each year during Sundance, usually on Thursday afternoon as the festival commences. Intersections and merges along S.R. 224, S.R. 248, Deer Valley Drive and Bonanza Drive turn into ostensible parking lots as commuters and skiers encounter vehicles filled with film buffs and corporate raiding parties—many of whom wouldn’t be categorized as great winter drivers. A severe dearth of parking only exacerbates Sundance traffic as two-wheel drive rental cars spin their wheels while fruitlessly circling for a place park or at least unload their passengers. Parking is expensive and impractical, so I won’t even get into explaining the few options, viable only for those who have vast fortunes stashed offshore.

In the Community Guide city officials implore as many people as possible to eschew driving in favor of riding busses, walking and carpooling. Like most appeals to peoples’ better angels, their pleas will be largely unheeded. For those willing to be part of the solution, the City enhances the already robust bus system with a Sundance Line that loops between theaters and is staffed with volunteers who seem shockingly content to stand half frozen in the snow and answer the same question to confused travelers all day. Skip out on the frustration by checking out Park City’s Transit App for complete maps and real-time information about all your transportation needs.

Ridesharing is better than driving into town, though with the recent kerfuffle surrounding confusion, ticketing and incompetence in the newly mandated drop-and-load zones, I’d recommend sticking to the extraordinarily convenient, and free, mass transit. Who knows, maybe you’ll overhear a film recommendation about an indie flick you’d have otherwise ignored or, heaven forbid, even strike up conversation with a stranger.

See all our community coverage here.

Incorporated as a city in 1938, South Salt Lake is made up of seven (very flat) square miles, from 21st to 39th South, and running west of 500 and 700 East to the Jordan River. Salt Lake magazine recently wrote an in-depth feature about South Salt Lake, addressing the complex nature of urban development, and along with new growth, the vicious cycle of decline.

SoSL Mural Fest 2020—Call for Artists

Application deadline: Monday, February 3rd at 5:00 p.m. themuralfest.com

 

Why build up a space that is going to be torn down or unusable in 20 years? According to SoSL’s Mayor Cherie Wood, the lifespan of the average shopping center is 20 years. However, when built near transit, a grocery store and a residential area, that number jumps to 50 years. Adding murals and art to an urban area is another way to enhance the value and longevity of developments.

With a degree in Community Leadership and a love for working with disadvantaged populations and youth, Lesly Allen is the tour de force as the Executive Director behind South Salt Lake’s Mural Fest, along with the Utah Arts Alliance and acclaimed artists who have created 10 murals in SoSL’s Creative Industries Zone. Artist murals display a wide range of styles and themes which brighten many not-so-vibrant cinder brick facades, sometimes deterring graffiti, sometimes not. To view these works of public art, walk along West Temple south of 21st South or along the S-Line/Parley’s trail.

To read more about relevant issues from around our city, go here.

In the centuries since her execution in 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots has remained an object of public fascination. She is the subject of operas, sonnets, rock songs and, most recently, the 2018 film Mary, Queen of Scots, which starred Saoirse Ronan as the titular queen and Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I, her cousin and eventual rival.

Mary Stuart

Pioneer Theatre Company

Jan. 10-25

Mondays-Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Tickets and info here.

Even in 2020, Mary’s life remains the perfect bit of palace intrigue. (Harry and Megan’s recent decision to “step back” is interesting, but, knock on wood, nobody will lose their head.) Mary’s story has family drama, national tensions, violent feuds and a prison break. No wonder it’s a story we can’t seem to stop telling.

One of the most famous depictions of Elizabeth and Mary’s power struggle, the play Mary Stuart, is now coming to Pioneer Theatre Company. An English adaptation of Friedrich Schiller’s original German play, Mary Stuart is a female-centered story that’s unique to the era. In a press release, PTC Artistic Director Karen Azenberg said, “The story of these two powerful women, from a time where women were not typically found in positions of leadership, is a compelling one.” PTC’s production will star Anne Bates (Elizabeth I) and Erika La Vonn (Mary of Scotland), along with a cast of both PTC alums and actors new to the company.

L-R: Jamen Nanthakumar (Sir Edward Mortimer), Erika LaVonn (Mary of Scotland), Robert Mammana (Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester), Anne Bates (Elizabeth of England), and Fenton Li (Sir William Davison). Photo courtesy Pioneer Theatre Company.

Mary Stuart is not exactly a comedy, but compared to the anxiety of watching our current leaders navigate politics, this play almost qualifies as light entertainment.

Read more of our theater coverage here.